Galveston’s Red Light District: A History of The Line

Known today as a colorful resort destination featuring family entertainment and a thriving arts district, Galveston was once notorious for its flourishing vice economy and infamous red-light district. Called simply “The Line,” the unassuming five blocks of Postoffice Street came alive every night with wild parties and generous offerings of hourly love. A stubborn mainstay of the island cityscape for nearly seventy years, it finally shut down in the late 1950s. But ridding Galveston of prostitution would prove much more difficult than putting a padlock on the front door. Kimber Fountain pursues the sequestered story of women who wanted to make their own rules and the city that wanted to let them.

Kimber Fountain is a native of the Texas Gulf Coast and a longtime resident of Galveston Island. After earning a bachelor of arts degree in theatre and dance from the University of Texas at Austin, she lived in Chicago for several years before moving to the island where she soon discovered a love for the city’s history while working as a tour guide on the Strand. Currently, Kimber is the editor-in-chief of Galveston Monthly magazine, where she has been a feature writer since 2015. She also serves as chair of the Arts & Historic Preservation Advisory Board to the Galveston City Council. This is Kimber Fountain’s second book from The History Press; Galveston Seawall Chronicles was released in May of 2017.